In-water boat show to bring vessels of all shapes and sizes for public viewing at Burton Chace Park

Thursday, May 17th, the usually serene setting of Burton Chace Park on Mindanao Way in Marina del Rey will once again be transformed into a large-scale in-water boat show with a slew of vessels of all shapes and sizes lining the docks for the public to climb aboard and take a closer look.

Affable yacht brokers in pressed khakis and embroidered polo shirts will be standing outside boats hand-picked from their listings hoping to find them a new home. And on the landside, boat show patrons can expect to find an assortment of marine products that perform a vast array of peculiar functions.

At times this area can feel like an old-time science fair with booths displaying the insides of water-makers, new kinds of tapes and glues that can bond a banana to a monkey wrench and the latest in the mystical world of electronic navigation. The lawn will, in all likelihood be packed with trailerable boats, inflatables, outboard motors and probably some new design of funky hanging chair or hammock.

In the past couple of years, the Marina del Rey Boat Show has started to once again feel solid and consistent after going through some bumps in the recent past, when organizers attempted putting it on in the winter and another year where there were rumors circulating about discontent between parties on the business end.

But since the Duncan McIntosh Co. has come back to manage the show, things have stabilized and felt more solid.

‘We’re starting to line up some pretty nice boats,’ said show organizer Duncan McIntosh.

‘We have a 103-foot Choey Lee coming in and it’s an incredible boat ‘ the biggest boat we’ve ever had in the Marina del Rey show.’

McIntosh used to put on the show years ago, but at a certain point decided to focus more purposefully on the two other shows he organizes ‘ The Newport Boat Show and the Lido Yacht Expo.

‘It was a matter of priorities,’ McIntosh said of the period where they didn’t do the Marina del Rey show.

‘We were doing the San Diego show, the Marina del Rey show and the two Newport shows ‘ we decided to put more emphasis on Newport. So we built that up and it got huge.

‘So now we’re in Marina del Rey and we’ll concentrate on that and build it into something that we hope people will really look forward to.’

The number of boats in attendance is up this year, which bodes well for McIntosh’s not-too-long-term goal of Burton Chace Park showing 200 boats, which he says will max-out the facility. Considering that they are marketing to the entire L.A. basin, he feels that it is a very attainable aspiration.